Sergei Yaromko: «I don't have any complaints for my team»

Belarus U-21 head coach summed up the match against Portugal.

- Difficult game. We played against one of the group's favourites. Taking into account the contents of the game and the amount of information which was given to our football players to a certain extent I am satisfied with the quality of the game. Yes, we defended in numbers, but everyone defends against Portugal and it is just a question of how. We had good transitional movement from the defence. In some moments we lacked composure but I don's have any complaints for my team. I think we will keep moving forward.

- Did the information you had about the opponent correspond to what you saw on the pitch?

- Almost to a full extent. The only thing is that Portugal changed it's tactical formation but in the second half they returened to their beloved system 4-3-3. If we compare their games against Gibraltar and our team we showed more quality. 

- Before you conceded the goal you did'nt make any subsitutions. Does that mean you were satisfied with the team's game?

- I was satisfied in general. We should also bear in mind the regulations: thre pauses and five substitutions. We needed to make certain decisions. If we could carry out substitutions one by one, perhaps we would act differently. But the situation was different. We planned a substitution before we conceded the goal but we simply were'nt on time to make it. The double substitution was made because we conceded the goal.  

- The physical condition of the team is quite good...

- I will always point out the coaches that send the football players to the U-21 team. The training process in the nationalo team is different and we can't prepare the players functionally. The most important thing for us is to know their condition today and to support it. I won't make a secret of the fact that I was afraid of the second half in term of this component. In the friendly fixture against Gorodeya everyone played half of the match. The copped with the task then. Today I saw, that nobody was out of play. Kontsevoi and Podstrelov looked very good and i liked their game on the wings. The substitutions were made because I wanted to add a bit of creativity to the wings. Unfortunatelly we did'nt manage to achieve that.  

- Would you be willing to agree with Markhel to add Ebong and Bakhar to your team after the national team's fixture against Estonia?

- It is a topic that has been discussed vastly lately. When I was offered the position of head coach all priorities were set. I knew then that I won't be able to use these four players plus Shvetsov and Plotnikov. Thank God that the lads became part of the national team. I hope that new players will come and we will prepare them for the national team. We did'nt even discuss this matter with Markhel as all was agreed beforehand. 

- Don't you feel yourself between a rock and a hard place? On the one hand you are expected to achieve good results and on the other hand you are put into such conditions?

- No, I don't. I believe in the players that I called up. I see how motivated they are and how much will they have. I thanked them for their work. We have a good squad. We don't have bright starts but we will try to move forward with the help of game organization.

- There were several Portuguese media present at the match. There were almost as many as from the home side. Are you worried that the game of the U-21 team does'nt draw a lot of attention from from the local media?

- If you say so, it worries me. If it was a decision for me to take I would take all of you to Portugal.

- Kuchinski from the first league plays on the left wing. The Left-back is still the most difficult position in Belarusian football?

- Regardless of the the league a football player plays in. If he is the strongest - he will play. Susha, who was born in 2000 and plays for the reserve team came on the pitch.вышел. In the game against Gorodeya I saw that he can become a leader of the team. Kontsevoi does not play much for the first team. But there are very good remarks on his game for the reserve team - he scores and he assists. He is motivated when he comes to the U-21 team. I would also like to praise Ilya Lukashevich who does not play a lot in Serbia, but we are regularly in contact and I have all the information I need on him. The coaches are satisfied with him and there are two center backs who are not young playing for the club now so I told him to wait for his chance. I am interested in working with all types of players, but the most important thing is that the players want to come here and want to achieve progress.